A new partnership between the Shaheen Bookstore and the Saint Mary's athletic department means that when the Belles' basketball team wins, the campus benefits.
The Bookstore has teamed up with Saint Mary's athletic department for Monday Madness, a new fundraiser that discounts Bookstore merchandise the Monday after each home victory for the Belles.
Mike Hicks, director of campus stores, described the event as a "challenge" to cheer on athletic teams.
"There is a lot of spirit here at Saint Mary's," he said. "We want to show our support for the Saint Mary's athletes and sports programs. This is an invitation to our campus to come out and cheer our teams onto victory."
Presently, the program only applies to the basketball team, but Hicks hopes to expand it to other sports teams, depending on its initial success.
"We have been working on this idea for some time. It is just a coincidence that we ironed out all the issues prior to the basketball season," he said. "We wanted to make sure that there would not be any problems with the athletic department if we offered a program like this."
The Bookstore will offer discounts on all clothing, contingent on the margin of the basketball team's win. A two-point victory warrants 20 percent off; four points, 40 percent. If the team wins by 10 or more, merchandise will be 50 percent off. No discounts will exceed 50 percent.
Students will only be eligible to receive the discounts the Monday following the game. They must bring a stamped program showing proof of attendance.
The discount program is in a pilot stage, but Hicks expects the program to continue for the whole basketball season, Hicks said.
Hicks hopes the program will encourage more students and faculty members to attend Belles athletic events.
"We feel that cheering on your team to victory is very rewarding," he said. "We hope that this program will encourage others to share in that reward."
Since the amount of discounts the Bookstore will give on Mondays is dependent on the basketball team's success, Hicks couldn't determine in advance the bookstore's profit margin or loss from the program. Hicks said he does not anticipate a negative effect on sales.
"We don't think this program should negatively affect our sales and profits," he said. "We don't have any worries about losing money if the team does well. We hope and want the basketball team, as well as all of our SMC teams, to do well. We support Saint Mary's athletes."
The Belles' next home game is on Jan. 19 against Tri-State at 3 p.m.
